Chicken Pox

[DJHawkes]

I know I had Chicken Pox when I was about 7/8, so that would be half a century ago, but could I catch them now in some form from my granddaughter. Her outbreak showed up saturday night and before then she had stayed with me overnight last sunday and so a week ago. I have a sore throat, watery eyes, headache, feel like a cold coming on but i only had a cold 3 weeks ago or so. I also seem to feel like my skin is itchy, on the back of my neck and scalp especially.

[Buenchico]

Once you've had chicken pox you should be immune for life to future infection. (I write 'should' because I managed to get scarlet fever three times as a child, much to the confusion of my doctor! So it seems that some people don't get full immunity after contracting a disease but they are very much in a minority; I'm simply odd!).

Sore throat? Watery eyes? Headache? Feels like a cold? Itchy skin?
You've described the symptoms of hay fever remarkably well! (Not everyone gets sneezing fits). Just because you've not had hay fever before, it doesn't mean that you can't get it now. (I was in my 20s when I first got hay fever. My friend was in his 60s when he started suffering from it).

[woofgang]

It is possible t get it twice, unusual but possible....also it wasn't unusual for childhood illnesses to be misdiagnosed, you might have had one of the other "rash" infections...

[woofgang]

simple diagnostic test, try taking an antihistamine and see if you feel better!

[DJHawkes]

no all three of use had it at the same time and my mum was an ex nurse and so we definately all had it. I don;t know why i would have hay fever today as it has been quite a dull overcast day.

[carrust]

Listening to Garth Books give me the same symptoms:-))))))

[ummmm]

My sister and my nephew have both had it twice.

[Buenchico]

>>>why i would have hay fever today as it has been quite a dull overcast day

. . . which is ideal for harvesting. You might be allergic to something in fields near to you.

If you don't want to go to your doctor, speak to a pharmacist. He/she may well suggest something like loratadine (which is really cheap if you buy it under that name, rather than in a branded product).

[pixie373]

My daughter had about five spots as a baby (still being breastfed) then about five more when she was four. I think she just had some immunity both times.

[237SJ]

You can`t really catch Chicken Pox a second time because when you catch it the first time, the virus stays in your body for life. If you get a flare-up, it comes out as Shingles. Maybe you are developing an upper respiratory tract virus (there are a lot of them going around, apparently)

[themorrigan]

One you have had chickenpox, you usually develop antibodies to the infection and become immune to catching it again. However, the virus that causes chickenpox, the varicella virus, remains dormant in your body's nerve tissues and can return later in life as an illness called shingles.

[sherrardk]

You can get chicken pox twice - red the box on the left und the picture.

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Chickenpox/Pages/Introduction.aspx

[sherrardk]

Read ^

[ummmm]

When my sister got it the second time it was much milder. Hardly any symptoms besides the spots.

[Sparkles62]

I had it in my late twenties, really bad,my daughters caught it from me, youngest only had a few spots and the doctor said that she had a very mild dose and could possibly get it again. x
I hope you haven't got it Dot, It was terrible as an adult. X

[smoneybags]

My mum had shingles quite badly just after all three of her grandchildren had chicken pox.

[Eve]

There were a lot of discussions about this when I developed a chicken pox like rash some months back. As I'm on medication which suppresses my immune system I rang my GP, was called straight in, was there for an hour, sent to the hospital and had the quickest admission ever to A&E and was in hospital for 3 days on anti-virals while they tested my blood. Turned out I'm immune to chickenpox, I had it badly as a child, but they still took the action above to check, just in case.